McRest Coming Soon!

Urban is about to host McRest coming up starting July 19th, and throughout that coming week! Many of us at Urban are very very excited for this opportunity. It's a chance for us to support people that have lived within and around our community that are struggling to stay or get back on their feet. It's a chance to show God's love in a practical way to people, and to band together as a community in doing so.

But one thing that the entire community at Urban should take note of is this. One year ago, yesterday, we had service where we shared dreams that all of us at Urban had because we were finally getting the opportunity to move into a building that we could call ours 24/7, 365. It was a chance to for those of us at that time to say... Here is what we believe God would want us to do with this blessing he has given our congregation.

And here we are, one year later, and the dreams and hopes that people put up on that board that evening are being accomplished! We've met several of them, really! But hosting McRest is a very huge thing for us. If you were to have asked me two years ago if this would have been happenning, I'd have likely said, "No way!". But the reality is... God is much, much bigger than my human brain can comprehend. His vision to reach people, connect those who are disconnected from Himself is far more awesome than I or anyone of us could have ever realized here at Urban! I am geeked... truly truly geeked, to be a part of God's work here at Urban... preparing to bless people that are far less fortunate than I.

And you know what's even more exciting than that? I'm going to be participating in this work of God's with people that dreamt with me as well as people who came to Urban as a result of the dreams being noted, prayed over, and realized! I'm so blessed... I know... it sounds corny... probably just like Pastor Tom said today that I love corny cheesy stuff.... but it's true. I am so very blessed to be a part of God's work here at Urban, helping hurting, connecting disconnected, making a difference.

I'm not saying it's easy to pull it off, and we still have a lot of donations to receive to make this entire opportunity happen, but I after seeing the team of volunteers meet this week, and seeing the blessings that happenned after it of donations being given, I am so convinced that God's behind everything going on here at Urban. I am so happy God is pulling the strings, pushing the buttons, challenging our congregation and leadership to continue to grow.

In the coming weeks, there will be stories that come from the preparation and execution of God's work here while Urban hosts McRest that we'll likely post or share with each other and with the surrounding community at large. So stay tuned!

Oh, and BTW - just because you're reading this, and you hear me saying how awesome God is handling all of the necessary items needed and preparation and volunteers, that by no means is meant to say that we have all the things we need, or people we need to volunteer to bless these people that come to stay at Urban this month. So please, if you come to Urban, and haven't signed up to help yet, We need you. The people coming to stay at Urban need you. God wants you to grasp the calling He's placed on the people at Urban, (which includes you!!!!) and get up and participate. If you're interested in helping, but haven't been able to sign up yet, please make sure you catch Lenka Perron or any one of the Pastor's here at Urban (Tom, Tom, Micha or myself) to get more information and sign up.

Thanks for reading, and hold on to your hats... God's gonna blow the socks off of us and our guests this month!!!!!

East Detroit School Bond - Where is the community of people who care?

I have to admit I was uncertain how to react when I saw that the bond for the East Detroit School District passed by a slim margin of just over 1,800 votes for to just over 1,750 votes against (credit clickondetroit.com for that data).

Then I googled census in Eastpointe, and came to realize that as of the 2007 Census (which I realize could have changed significantly) had over 32,000 residents in the city of Eastpointe (credit wikimapia.org).

Let's assume 25% of the residents in Eastpointe left over the last two years, for whatever reason. That leaves 24,000 residents in the city.

Then, let's assume that of those 24,000 residents, let's assume 35% of them are kids, under the age of 18, ineligible to vote. So we can assume that leaves 15,600 residents in Eastpointe who are over the age of 18.

Now, let's assume that only 1/2 of those 15,600 residents are registered voters. That's 7,800 voters.

7,800 voters, and 3,600 voted. That means 1/2 of the people of Eastpointe who could have voted whether to approve of the bond or not for the school district did not even bother to vote. Do we blame that on not knowing about or hearing about the special election? Do we blame that on indifference? I'm not sure which, but I'm disappointed to see that.

I made it out to vote at 5 to 8 last night, and made sure I got my ballot cast. It was important to me to vote. Maybe, as the parent of two children in the ED school system, I care enough to do so, whereas others did not. I don't know.

But all I do know is that it appears to me that there is a lot of speaking done in the lack of voting in an election. But none of that matters. It's what the votes say at the end of the day, not what the lack of votes say, that determines what happens with our tax dollars. I would think that would be a motivator to more than just 1/2 of the eligible voters, assuming all those numbers were accurate.

I end up asking myself... I wonder what God thinks about something like that. I wish more people took an active part in their community. I know I don't do enough for my community, but I do try, and I wonder what others think when they see that ONLY HALF of people who even bothered to register to vote actually went and did it. Like I said above, I wonder what God's thinking? I wonder what God's trying to get us to do about it. Is it anything you think about?

Living Life to the Fullest

I've had a lot of time recently to reflect on what it means to live life to the fullest. There are 2 main reasons I think it's hard for many to live life to the fullest.

1. I think it's hard for many of us to do because we choose to accept a life of condemnation instead of the freedom Christ came to offer us.

There are no shortage of people in most of our lives standing in line to accuse, condemn, and criticize us. It's part of the "human condition". Yet Christ came to reveal a life of freedom from condemnation. He once said to a prostitute, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” (John 8:10)

Yet most of us in our everyday lives choose to accept the condemnation of others and live in that condemnation. Jesus said "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) This freedom Jesus is speaking of is two-fold. First, it's freedom from sin. You and I can tap into His power to overcome sin in our lives when we choose to follow Him and surrender our will. Secondly, He is speaking of a life free from the many things that keep us from living life to the fullest. When ignorant people choose to condemn and criticize, you do not have to accept it as truth, for if you are set free... YOU ARE FREE. Live in that freedom. Accept the mercy of the Father. God is not the one who is keeping a record of wrongs. You are. In the grand scheme the words of other people are inconsequential. Only God's words matter. Our identity is not in mankind, but in Christ Jesus, the Redeemer.

2. The other major roadblock to living a life of freedom and fullness is stress. How many of us are "worrying" our way through life. Worry and stress are tactics designed to keep your eyes focused on the temporal instead of the eternal. Forget living life to the fullest... or even at all, if we cannot see beyond our current circumstances. God desires us to be forward looking people. Looking forward to the "hope we have in Christ Jesus" instead of being bogged down by the here and now. Yes, we have to deal with the here and now, but as quickly as it came, today will be gone and it'll be tomorrow. God wants to empower us to see the eternal, not be discouraged by the temporary. The job loss, the sickness, the divorce, the relationship problems... they are all temporal. But the hope we have in Christ is FOREVER. It is ETERNAL.

Jesus said in Luke 12:27 "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

Knowing that God is on our side in this way what do we really have to be worried about? This is what it means to be focused on the eternal instead of the temporal.

When we learn to overcome these two roadblocks, we are on the way to discovering the richness of this life. Learn to shut out the voice of the "accuser of the brethren" and live in the eternal not the temporal. I encourage you to refocus your prayer life for the month of April on these two principles and ask God to show you what real life is.

Men of Integrity

Lots of really cool things have happened over the last year... moving into our building, all the people getting connected to Christ, baptism services, Christmas Eve Candlelit service, more and more people attending growth groups, real relationships forming, just a ton of great things!

Well, there's something else that's just awesome to see starting to happen here at Urban now too. Our guys are starting to get together on a frequent basis and getting to know one another. You can see it happenning more and more on Sundays and at Growth Groups during the week. And I think it's really great! As guys, we need opportunities to get together to have fun and also to learn more about what God has to say about how we should live our lives as husbands, fathers and friends to each other, to become men of integrity.

So we're gonna to have our next hang out Saturday May 2nd at the church! We'll barbeque like only guys know how and maybe play some hoops, or touch football, or some cards indoors if it's raining. So plan to bring a monster sized steak or whatever you want to grill and all the fixin's you'll need!

I was reading earlier today in the Bible and thought I would share this verse from Philippians 4:8-9.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."

As guys trying to be men of integrity, maybe take some time over this next week to think about what this verse from the Bible means to you, or how thinking about those things and focusing on them could impact your life. Challenge yourself to do so. It will definitely be something I'm going to do, because there are things in my life that I'm focused on that don't deserve my attention, and other things that do. So I'll be spending some time each day thinking about this verse, and I hope some of you might too.

See you Saturday May 2nd at Urban!

The tale of my new Tattoo.

Well sorry it took me so long to blog about this. I've been extremely busy lately but the real reason is that I didn't have a decent picture of the tattoo to upload. The story of this new tattoo is pretty cool. For about 3 years now I have been considering a tattoo, but truth be told, I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to pain. But I've had this design in my head for all that time. Recently a good friend who had been filling in for me at the church when I was on sabbatical shared an idea with me. He basically had a really cool sermon idea about God's love, using some tattoo symbolism. He shared that he always thought it would be cool to have someone get inked in church while he was preaching the sermon. We laughed and I half-jokingly said, "you could totally get away with it at Urban". A short time later I learned that someone at the church is a tattoo artist. I won't share his story just now, but it didn't take long for God to bring the pieces of the puzzle together in my mind. I realized... "Hey, I want a tattoo, Jeff wants to preach about it and have someone get one during the service, and I have a guy who can actually do it!"

So yes, we were just crazy enough to do it. About a month ago we arranged to have me get tattooed while Jeff preached. At first I don't think most people knew what was going on. After the music, I just sat down in the sterile area up front that we had set up and Jeff got up and started speaking. In a few minutes the tattoo was started and people started to hear the buzzing of the needle. Then Jeff started to describe what was going on and the congregation erupted in applause. That was kind of surprising, but I think people were really diggin' the whole scruffy church vibe of what was going on.

In the middle of Jeff's message, he brought a microphone over to me and asked me about the tattoo's symbolism. I described it's meaning and shared the scriptures that applied to it. The short version... The tattoo is essentially 3 links of chain, although the links are made up of 3 stranded cord or rope, not steel. From a distance, it kind of looks like chain and up close it looks like knotted rope.

The fact that it's chain represents my calling as a pastor and bondservant of Christ as the Apostle Paul describes it.

That there are 3 links represents God's continual presence in my life in all three facets of His personality; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The 3 stranded cord comes from the Old Testament where Solomon talks about how a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken. In my life the 3 strands became 2 and subsequently the cord was broken. (symbolically) The reason my tattoo is made of unbroken 3 stranded cord represents my future marriage which I fully believe God will bring about when I find that right person. So whoever my future wife is, this tattoo is partly for you.

The fact that the tattoo is on my left shoulder represents my relationship with my God. In much the same way a wedding ring is worn on the left hand, this tattoo is a marriage symbol of sorts between God and I.

The pain was also significant and reminds me that often, really great things in life come with an amount of pain. Pain is a part of life, yet amidst the pain God often does the most wonderful things. Amidst my own life's pain, God has brought me to amazing new places in my relationship with Him and also with many of those who love me. I can honestly say that because of His love for me, my life is good...challenges and all.

Lastly the permanence of the tattoo reminds me that no matter what, I cannot run, hide, deny, turn off, or get away from God's love for me. His love for us is permanent and there is nothing we can do to stop Him from loving us.

When the service was over, there were several people who came to me with tears in their eyes because they were so touched by what God was revealing to them thru this rather out-of-the-box morning. Jeff's message was perfect and God used it to penetrate hearts and do some amazing things in people's lives. I think one of the coolest things God did was to help people understand that they are loved and accepted. You see most of the people in our church have tats. A lot of them keep them undercover and some people feel self-conscious because at some point in their lives some Christian or church made them feel dirty for having tattoos. What a shame because that's utter crap!!! Yeah, I said it.

Without getting into a theological debate on the blog, I'll just say in short that the Bible does not prohibit tattooing. Marking your body to identify you as someone who worships an idol? Well that's a different story. But tattoos are not evil or bad. And shame on any church or Christian who cause people to feel unworthy of God's love just because they have some ink in their skin. One of the coolest things to happen on tat Sunday was when a guy in our church brought a Bible up to me while I was getting inked and showed me the passage that says "God does not judge by outward appearance". That's the truth of the matter. A relationship with God has nothing to do with outward appearance. God loves the scruffy and imperfect. By the way, that describes everybody no matter how highly one thinks of themselves. We are all scruffy!!! So Dave, thanks for doing that, it really touched me that morning. And it is so right.

Not only does God love the scruffy, but so does Urban. Want to come and be accepted no matter how you dress or look? No problem, come on out.

Ok, now a little about tat addiction. When I first set this all up, I was convinced in my mind that it would only be this one... no more. "No way I'll get addicted to tattooing, remember I'm a wuss with pain?" It was so weird. When the artist told me he was done that morning, I felt a let down. AH! Now I get what people with multiple tats have been saying. There was something about the experience that was deeply spiritual. I can't describe it. If you don't have any tattoos, you won't "get it" any more than I did. But I am ready for number 2. Yep, it's true. I plan to have an Icthus done. (the ancient fish symbol for the church) Number 3? Who knows. No plans for a number 3. Yet???

Anyway, the art turned out great, the tattoo is exactly what I wanted and turned out how I wanted it to. The artist is AWESOME! Great job. I wouldn't go to anyone else. You rock. I am so grateful and honored to have had you do my tattoo. Truly honored.

Ok, that's the short story of the crazy pastor who got his first tattoo during a Sunday service.

House M.D. on Gossip.

I heard a great quote the other day while watching House M.D. I just got hip to this show a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. I think Hugh Laurie's character is a riot. Anyway, it was actually Robert Sean Leonard's character that said this, and what a great quote it is: "You can't punish the man without punishing those that love him."

Have you ever thought about the words you say about others in that light? I preach about gossip rather regularly at Urban because it's such a big problem throughout the church nationwide. Gossip unfortunately has become an accepted part of church culture and I'm not specifically whining about gossip about myself. It's everywhere and rampant. Why just the other day I had a friend tell me about how gossip nearly destroyed them emotionally. In recent months I've had many individuals come to me with tears telling me how the gossip they hear from others is "hurting them". Can you hear the words from the quote from House?

The Bible deals with this subject more than a few times because as James puts it in James 3, "How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so."

When I heard the quote on House, this scripture took on an entirely new meaning. Gossip is most often used as a weapon... a way to punish those we disagree with or are offended by. We often justify our tongues with words like "accountability" or "truth", yet the Bible is abundantly clear about accountability and truth and nowhere does it justify gossip, malicious talk, slander, lying, or even disclosing what one believes to be "truth" as a means of accomplishing these things.

When we gossip, we forget some really important concepts. For example.. GOD's ROLE in the whole matter. Isn't it up to Him to bring light into the darkness? Yet when we use gossip as weapon we are acting in His place, attempting to do His job. In reality, we are not doing "the Lord's work", we are acting at the bidding of the great deceiver who's primary goal is to disrupt all that God is doing. For example, gossip has been the cause of thousands of church splits over the years. Is this "the Lord's work"? One wonders. (not really)

I heard another wonderful quote the other day which gives us a solid course of action I think. Excuse me for being vulgar, but this was the quote: "If you didn't hear it from the horse's mouth, you heard it from the horse's ass". Yeah, it's funny, I know. It made me laugh out loud when I heard it. But it does offer us a good piece of advice. If we didn't hear it from the source (or if we're unwilling to go seek out the source), then we need to shut the gossip down because to admit the gossip into our hearts is to allow Satan to rule a part of our lives. We will become deceived. It's the only possible outcome. How can I say that? Well, it's simple...think about it. Ever hear the old saying "there's 2 sides to every story"? Well actually there's many sides to every story, and if you don't hear them all (from the sources) and hear them with an objective ear, then you DON'T KNOW the whole truth. You only know a skewed version of it. And believe me, every version is somewhat skewed. It is skewed by our filters, life experiences, and hurts. We can't help but filter. We all do it and unless you're Mr. Spock, you can't help it no matter how smart you are. And if you're honest, you'll have no choice but to admit that most of the time when we gossip, it's an attempt to appear to be the person "in the right". "I'm right and they're wrong and here's why..." Ok, I realize we're not all ready to admit that about ourselves so I'll move on.

Our only alternative then is to follow the Bible's advice and shut up, shut down those who won't shut up, and leave the rest to God. That's the biblical "high road". Sadly, we Christians (myself included) have become so self-righteous that we can easily justify our mouths. It's time to listen to the advice of Lamentations 3:26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. 28 Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him; 29 let him put his mouth in the dust-- there may yet be hope; 30 let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults. 31 For the Lord will not cast off forever, 32 but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; 33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

Get it? We need to learn to live in silence and allow God to do His will. Take David and Saul as an example. Saul was a bad king. But he was the king that God chose to give to the people. Whether or not they liked it, Saul was God's choice. Saul wasn't perfect, but that did not negate God's will. If anyone had cause to criticize this imperfect king it was David. David was routinely treated with contempt by Saul and in the most unfair of ways. Yet what did David do? In his "righteous anger" did he lash out at Saul? In 1st Samuel 24 we read “It is a serious thing to attack the LORD’s anointed one, for the LORD himself has chosen him.” This was David's reaction to the idea of bringing harm to Saul. It is reasonable to argue that this is dealing specifically with killing a king which God forbade. Some use this to say we can never criticize church leaders. This is not at all what I'm saying. Church leaders can and should be held accountable, but there is a process set forth in the scriptures for such accountability. We cannot skirt around God's process and expect God to bless it. If we disagree with the way our criticisms were handled or received when we went through God's process properly (do we even fully understand it?), then our only recourse is to remain silent and let God handle it from there. Yep... back to the silence thing again. To do this requires great faith and trust in God. Are we ready to really trust Him? But this post isn't specifically about church leaders. This is just an example of how we tend to find ways to justify what we say about others. This principle need to be applied in every relationship in our lives. It's a universal principle that God wants His people to get a hold of because if we don't, our "noise" will damage everyone that hears it.

In truth there is great wisdom to be found in silence. For it is in silence that we best hear the voice of the Lord. It is in silence that we are able to shut down the voices of our own anger, resentment, depression, disgust, or whatever other voices are raging in our heads. It is only then that we are fully able to receive the wisdom and peace of Christ. "Righteous anger" gets us nowhere. In fact, I think it's a great disservice to teach that it's ok to have "righteous anger". Jesus was able to do have it, but then again He was fully righteous. We are not...we are merely cleansed sinners. We are made righteous by His blood, but we are not fully righteous in ourselves. Yet we think we can control our minds and our tongues as we act and speak in anger. Yeah, good luck with that. (sarcasm intended) Remember, we're only human and imperfect. We all have filters, most of which we aren't even aware of.

So how about we try following the most difficult advice scripture has to offer. Have the faith to trust God and not try to do His job. Try remaining silent when others speak of you and let God handle it. It will go against every natural instinct you have, but when you do it, you will hear the Lord speak to you in ways you never knew possible. When others speak gossip to you follow the wisdom of silence and ask the person to stop speaking because by listening, the gossip will end up affecting you in some negative way. "You can't punish the man without punishing those who love him." Truer words were never spoken. The wisdom of Solomon from House M.D. Pretty cool.

Surrender in '09

As 2009 is now here, I wanted to say that I am purposefully committed to understanding what thing in my life that I have not surrendered to God. The truth is, the last week or two, I have been feeling like something in my life is missing. Something needs change. Last night, as I sat around my family, and we talked about what many people make... those famous, or infamous New Year's resolutions, I realized that I heard my family making resolutions similar to my own. And then it hit me. I've been realizing that I need to surrender areas of my life to God that I have never really let Him have before.

Surrender to God never means that everything will be good in your life because you do it. Life's challenges never seem to go away. In fact, it seems all the more apparant that when you do surrender to God's plan for your life, and turn things over to Him that the road gets much harder, because it's totally not what Satan wants. It's a contradiction to his purpose... to seek, kill and destroy. But I'm really wanting to surrender what I haven't to God, because I know for certain that the more I give up what I don't already have control over but try to that God gets glory for it. And I love God so much, I want His will to be done in my life, my wife's my daughter's, my son's and my friends and extended family too.

I pray for those people in my life to surrender to God, as they never have before. I believe that through our surrender, God is allowed to do a work in and through us that He never has because we haven't allowed Him to up to this point. Enough of that. It's time to be real. time to be serious about the surrender to God in 2009. Surrender to God's will. God's teaching. God's plan for you.

If you are interested in knowing more about what surrendering to God is and seeing what Urban is doing for God when we surrender to His plan for our church, come check out a growth group this winter, and find out more about Urban's mission to connect disconnected through servant evangelism. I can say this from experience, that when you surrender to God, it seems to be much more natural to have the mind of a servant toward others.

Happy New Year, and Rock On, Urban!

New Year - New Victory

Wow, what can I say about 2008? For me it had a lot of great moments, but it also had a lot of moments that just plain SUCKED! So it's a mixed bag. There are lots of things to complain about, but also a lot of things to be thankful for. Yet the Bible teaches us to be thankful for ALL of it. What's up with that? How do we do it? How do get thankful for the challenging times? Isn't it easier to just get mad at the stuff that sucks and lash out? Sure it is. But again, the scripture gives us completely different instructions. Oh...so much easier said than done huh?

However, I have found gratitude to be the best weapon against Satan's attempts to discourage and defeat us. So in 2009 I choose new victory by CHOOSING to be thankful for ALL of 2008...even the stuff that was bad. Because in the end what God is doing is much better than all the bad combined. Satan likes to tempt us to believe that the bad stuff is SO bad that it negates all the good God does. Sadly, we all too often fall for it don't we? But God is so good and is always doing great things. And a moment of bad does not negate the good. It doesn't work that way.

Let me rephrase that. Think of it this way. Often we screw up right? Maybe we do something or say something that offends a friend. A lot of times when this happens, the friendship is over as though there was nothing good about it in the first place. People love to say things like "I THOUGHT you were my friend", as if they never really were. Yet when you step back and analyze it you may find that it was just a momentary screw up. Perhaps the person had been a good friend all along, but just screwed up. Even when the friendship is forced to end, there are still good things God did during the time you were friends, so why throw all that out because you are no longer friends today? That's where gratitude can really help us become victorious over bitterness, anger, resentment, and most importantly vengeance.

If we learn to be grateful for ALL the good God did even amidst the bad stuff, Satan will have a diminished ability to cause us to sin because our eyes are firmly affixed on God. So when someone wrongs you, don't hate them for it. Instead, choose to look for what God is wanting to do in your heart through the difficulty and then CHOOSE to be grateful for what was good about your relationship during its time. When we destroy hate with love and bitterness with gratitude, we win. When we choose hate and bitterness...we're the only ones who lose. I have found this great truth to be universally true: When you're bitter or hateful, it only hurts you...the other person doesn't care. So embrace new victory by embracing a new way of life in 2009. As we enter the new year you will find new victory as you allow God to change your heart.

My new little buddy.

Hi all, I'd like to introduce you to my new little buddy Malcolm. Malcolm is an 18 month Bichon Frise mixed with some sort of terrier (most likely). I got him at the Humane Society in Detroit. When I met him, he put his paws up on my lap and looked at me with those eyes and it was all over. He won.

I got his name from an old tradition found in the Bible. Back in Bible times, people would often make up a name and assign it a special meaning. For instance, Hannah named her son Samuel saying, "because I asked the Lord for Him". So over time, Samuel became synonymous with a gift from God. As I was thinking and thinking about a name for my new little friend, I wanted to find a name that to me meant "comfort". Then it occurred to me that I had some special friends who have been an amazing source of comfort to me during the darkest hours of my life. Their last name is Malcolm so I chose that name for my new dog because they (and he) are such a great comforting presence in my life. So I named him Malcolm saying "because he comforts me and is a gift from the Lord". That's how I feel about my friends too...not just my dog. :)

When I met him he had the craziest haircut. They basically just shaved him down at the shelter but left a fro on top. Here's the before shots:




When I got him home I spent a few minutes giving him a trim. He looks much better now huh?


I was a little nervous about how my cat might react, but I was pretty surprised. When Malcolm came into the house he immediately went over to the cat and started licking her head. She meowed a little, but was completely cool with it. No hissing or anything. Whew! It was actually quite amusing.


Thanks so much to my good friends at church (Steve, Sherri, Shane, Tina, and whoever else was in on this surprise) for giving me such a great gift. I really missed having a dog around the house since my last one passed, so this is the best Christmas gift I could have gotten this year. I can't wait for ya'll to meet him in person.

Mercy

Every so often you come across a song that God uses to seriously altar your perspective. Mercy by Kristene Mueller is such a song for me. Ever since discovering Kim Walker at JesusCultureMusic.org, I've kept an eye out for new music from them. Kristene's album, 'Those Who Dream', came out a couple of weeks ago when I was really needing a word from the Lord. When I got to the track Mercy, many things came into a new perspective as God spoke powerfully into my life.

He reminded me of His amazing grace and ability to sustain us through the storms of life. But more importantly, He spoke about making sure that He has my whole heart, not just most of it. I am amazed at the way God uses music to speak to us. (at least to me) I'm not sure if I transcribed the lyrics perfectly, but here they are:


What shall I do with you my love?
What shall I do with you?

For your loyalty to me is like the morning clouds,
like the dew that goes away so early
What shall I do with you my love?

You keep bringing me sacrifices to ease your mind
But it’s your heart that I want

Hasn’t it been a long road?
Disappointment
Chasing after lovers that just throw you away

Are you done fighting now?
All the love that takes delight in you?
Shame was never meant to be your portion

You keep bringing me sacrifices to ease your mind
But it’s your heart that I want

Though your sins are red as scarlet I will wash them white in my mercy
Though your sins are red as scarlet I will wash them white in my mercy
Though your sins are red as scarlet I will wash them white in my mercy

What shall I do with you my love?
What shall I do with you?

You keep bringing me sacrifices to ease your mind
But it’s your heart that I want

I am reminded of all the times in my life when I "served" Him with all I had, but did He truly have all of my heart? I have learned so much in the past 2 months about what it means to really love and trust Him completely as opposed to merely serving Him with my deeds and trying to "do right". Mercy reminds me every time I hear it that there is so much more to really knowing God than "doing" and "believing".

I think this is where so many Christians go wrong. We believe and we even serve, but do we really trust and love with the entirety of our hearts? Often when we go through tragedy God brings the truth to light and shows us where we lack in our relationship with Him. Sadly at this point, many people will turn their backs on Him. And we often choose to blame Him. But if we allow Him, He will use that light, not to condemn us, but to bring us to all new heights in our love for Him.

This is the Mercy of God. I know... because I'm experiencing it right now.

At all Cost

Job said "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him." I have had reason as of late to really ponder those words. Don't get me wrong, I don't compare my life to Job, that would be silly. Compared to the persecution of our brothers and sisters all over the world who are literally dying for Christ, my life is of no comparison. Yet we would all agree that life often gives us great difficulty, much of it beyond our ability to handle. So when that happens what do we do?

The most typical response is to blame God or worse, to run from Him. I think we have all had moments where we've done this. Yet there is a profound lesson to be learned from Job's life. With all he went through, he said that no matter what life dealt him, he was intent to follow God and trust in Him alone. Easier said than done right? All I know is that when life deals us the worst, God is there the most. If we cling to Him during the worst of it, we will find Him like never before. We will hear from Him in ways we never knew previously and we'll find a strength and comfort that without it we'd be utterly defeated.

Does God bring us difficulty? Does He bring tragedy? Those are honest questions. Many cliche's are uttered during dark times which quite frankly make things worse. "Everything happens for a reason". "God won't give you more than you can handle". Crap, crap and more crap! Both of those lame cliche's basically say "God did this to me". If everything happens for a reason, then God must have done this terrible thing to you "for a reason". Uh...no. God is not the author of tragedy. Will he use the worst circumstances for good in your life if you look to Him? Yep, but that's not the same as Him doing bad things to you for some higher purpose. The same goes for "God won't give you more than you can handle". The Bible doesn't teach that. In fact, the Bible teaches that we will go through things that quite frankly, we can't handle. If we could handle it all on our own, we wouldn't need God! But remember, it's LIFE that deals us more than we can handle, not God. God is our strength to deal with what we cannot handle. Without Him we'd drown in our problems and eventually disconnect from Him in a fit of anger and resentment.

Many people ask me as of late "Tom, how do you do it?" Look, I'm no one special. I'm just a man. And my life often deals me situations that I just can't handle. But I know who my salvation comes from. I know who my rock is. My responsibility is to live as uprightly before Him as I can no matter what happens...to serve Him at all costs. When I was young and living a life of sin, I was unable to live for anyone but myself. But when I found Christ, I became a new creation...a forgiven, cleansed, blood covered child of God. The past is wiped away, forgiven, and cleansed. Knowing all this gives me the strength to trust in the one who saved me. It reminds me that no matter what happens in my life, He's got my back and working in my life in a redemptive way. He is my safety. Though I suffer, even if He slay me with the worst life can throw at me, I will hope in Him because He alone is my hope.

When we determine to serve God "At all Cost", we find a new peace and strength that only comes from our creator who loves each and every one of us as if we were the only one on Earth. I am struck by God's words in Jeremiah 17...

5 Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” 11 Like the partridge that gathers a brood that she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.
12 A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. 13 O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water. 14 Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. 15 Behold, they say to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come!” 16 I have not run away from being your shepherd, nor have I desired the day of sickness. You know what came out of my lips; it was before your face. 17 Be not a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster.

God is our refuge and strength. He alone will save us from the day of disaster. Trust in Him and everything about YOU will change.

Freedom in the Pulpit

A few weeks ago I saw a news story on FOX News about 30+ pastors who were challenging the IRS's "Johnson Amendment" that restricts a pastor's right to free speech from the pulpit on Sundays. Read about it at Alliance Defense Fund. Basically the IRS uses a tax code to prevent pastors from speaking about political candidates from their pulpits. The premise of the Alliance Defense Fund's action called Pulpit Freedom Sunday is to challenge the constitutionality of the Johnson Amendment. They basically say that the constitutional right to free speech trumps the Johnson Amendment and they are 100% right in my opinion. The constitution guarantees the church's right to speak about any issue they view as moral or biblical from the pulpit. This right was freely exercised up until the IRS rule was enacted in 1954. Whether or not someone agrees with what a pastor says from the pulpit is irrelevant...he or she has a right to say it without being intimidated by the IRS threatening to revoke their tax exempt status. By the way, as a side note I can't help but wonder if Rev. Jeremiah Wright has had his church's tax exempt status challenged? I honestly don't know. However, as much as I vehemently disagree with many of his statements and am personally offended by his views, I would support his legal right to say what he wishes from his pulpit.

Back to the point... From the beginning of the United States, the church has partly shaped our national history and political landscape. As another ADF article correctly points out: "Historically, churches have emphatically, and with great passion, spoken Scriptural truth from the pulpit about government and culture. Historians have stated that America owes its independence in great degree to the moral force of the pulpit. Pastors have proclaimed Scriptural truth throughout history on great moral issues such as slavery, women’s suffrage, child labor and prostitution." Just try to imagine a Unites States where the church did not stand up against these moral issues. It would be a very different America to be sure. Yet because many disagree with the church's leanings politically, they would like to see all of that change. I fear where that road may lead us.

I commend those pastors who participated in Pulpit Freedom Sunday and hope and pray that the Johnson Amendment is eventually ruled unconstitutional. I for one have very strong feelings about the upcoming election, but I admit that I have felt intimidated and constrained to not say certain things from the pulpit over the years. Seeing what the pastors who participated in the ADF action have done makes me feel like a coward to be totally truthful. Yet their willingness to risk emboldens me and for that I am grateful and optimistic.

Movies - Eagle Eye

If you seek a really long, over-the-top car chase, this is your movie! If you’d like to go out with your church friends for the evening and want to not worry about content or language – this is a good choice. However, if you want to be surprised about how it all turns out or about what will happen next, I’d suggest renting IRobot – since it has the same basic story and was overall much better written. This week hoping to see Max Payne – so more to come!!

J

Movies....The Women

Well, what can I say...estro-fest comes to mind. :) K - no guy can probably see this movie and retain his "man card". Also interesting to note that out of a cast of thousands (more or less) no man, except one infant, was ever seen.

Though it was great to see all of these actresses together and it was especially nice to see Carrie Fisher, all in all, it was a "miss" for me. Maybe it was because I saw Sex & the City recently and felt that this was too similar of a plot - and that it had a lot less depth. The characters were 2-d and because of that, the comedy wasn't quite as funny.

All in all, it was nice to be out with the girls and the movie was clean enough for a church crowd - but not really worth the price of the ticket.

Until next time!!

Movies, movies, movies

K - so I've heard from many that I'm way over due for a new movie pick. Though I must see 8 movies a month, I just haven't seen much lately that I felt like I needed to own. However, that doesn't mean that there weren't some good movies and good moments you might want to catch. So...my plan is to highlight a couple I've seen each month and share my thoughts about them. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts when you have a moment.

So without further ado - let's talk about the Dark Night. I must say, Heath Ledger's performance wasn't only brilliant, it actually saved this movie from being over an overly complicated, overly long, lack luster installation of the famous Batman francise.

Something about Heath's performance - though he's a deranged clown complete with make up and a hideously altered smile, he convinced me for a split second that he wasn't crazy. How that is possible - only great acting. Christian Bale - the batman - ended up being just a side kick.

Totally worth seeing - however, not light, cheery fare. Meat, potatoes and deranged clowns. Good night out.

Crowder is strange, but you gotta love him

So I'm looking around on iTunes to see what is new out there and I ran across a new, well not really "new", album by David Crowder. Why all the remake albums? Well, that's for another post. Anyway, I saw some new videos and one of them is for the song Neverending. In the preview window it looked like he was playing a tiny guitar. When I played the video preview I had to laugh because that tiny guitar was a Guitar Hero Controller. I'm not sure exactly how he was triggering sounds with it, but I gotta give it to DC for his imagination. I remember seeing him in concert last year and him playing a "Keytar" with what he called "a really phat beat".

Dude is weird, but a lot of fun. Way to incorporate Guitar Hero into your show man. Ok, so let's have another album!

We've moved!

Well, we're all moved in and it's been an awesome first 2 weeks in our new church home. Our team of dedicated volunteers worked themselves to exhaustion to get things ready for our opener on August 3rd. Now that we're moved in and off and running, it's time to get down to the business this move is all about...connecting the disconnected.

Starting this week, we're hosting youth meetings, a new recovery group, a prayer night, and lot's more to come. From this new launching pad, we'll be exploring all new areas of ministry that we previously only dreamed about.

Here are a few pics of the new launching pad.

The church from 9 Mile Road. Hey, we have a sign! Now you can find us.


The Front Entrance. Come on in!


Newly landscaped reflection area. Come hang out or sit in peace and reflect.


When you enter, this is the Information Table. Find out all about Urban!


Come on in and relax in the Hospitality Center.


Chillax.


Coffee anyone? We're such a coffee culture...


The main worship space. This is where our weekly service happens. It's a lot smaller than our last space, so we're pretty sure we'll be going to 2 services on Sunday mornings soon.


The Kid Focus/Tribe (students) space downstairs.


Kid Focus/Tribe space from the other way. Think they should have picked brighter colors?


Well, that's it for the moment. Hopefully more pics to come soon. But for now, come join us in our mission to connect people to Christ and His people! See ya there. 10am Sundays.

We're Moving - New time and place!

Well, it's been 11 years in the making. As of August 3rd, Urban will be meeting in our new home in Warren, Michigan. We can't describe how excited we are to finally have an entire building that we can use for ministry however and whenever we feel led by God to do so. With the new building comes a new time for Sunday services. As many of you know, we've been meeting for 2+ years at 5pm. This was done out of necessity when we left our last location. Up until then, we had always met at 10am. Since the move to 5pm, we've struggled because most people just don't want to come to church on Sunday evening...they prefer the morning.

So in an effort to reach the disconnected of our community and connect them to God and His church, we will be moving services back to 10am starting August 3rd in our new location. We do this not out of convenience or preference, but because of MISSION. Mission is why we do all that we do here at Urban. For us, it's about connecting people to Jesus and making sacrifices to see the mission of Jesus accomplished in our community.

With this move, come all new opportunities. As those who have been helping with the renovations have probably noticed, there is great need in the surrounding community for hope. We will be right in the heart of an ever-worsening area of Warren that needs the hope that only Jesus can bring. I believe we are being planted strategically by God, right where we are needed the most. I think of it like an oasis in an ever widening desert. Our hope is that people will come and drink from the waters of life, but our hopes do not end there.

"Our mission" as the Bible puts it is to "go into the world", not just wait around for them to come in. With the new opportunities to minister to people comes a new responsibility to stand up and be counted as God's missionaries to our world. The call of Jesus is to leave the past behind and "follow me" and become fishers of men. As we embark on this new leg of the journey, I challenge you to do the same. With whatever God is speaking to your heart, I challenge you to leave the past behind and follow Him at all costs. It's this Apostolic passion that drives the mission of the church and these Apostles are the ones who will build the Kingdom of God while others merely look on from a distance. Let's never be mere onlookers. Instead, accept the Apostolic call to serve, live, and even die if necessary for the cause of Jesus.

Join us as we celebrate this Apostolic calling in our new home at 10am on August 3rd, but come prepared to accept the challenge to respond. Our new home is located at 14217 E. 9 Mile Road, Warren, Michigan, 48089.

Click here for Mapquest Map:14217 E. 9 Mile, Warren, MI 48089

Commit. It's more than just a lozenge to quit smoking.

Who knows? Maybe I'm just a little depressed. I don't think I am. I'm just get a little bummed every so often when I see so much potential going untapped and under-developed. Lately, God has been opening my eyes to the gift of people. I'm seeing people more and more as the amazing gifts they really are...people with tons and tons of potential and beauty. I guess that's why I'm a little bummed. Weird huh? God shows you something good, yet it bums you out. Well, it is good... people I mean. I'm glad that God is helping me see what I'm seeing, but I have to admit, it drives me nuts to see people putting their gifts on the back burner and in many cases, letting them go to waste.

As I've pondered this little tidbit, I've started to realize that with most folks there's a common denominator. They won't commit. They won't start sucking on that lozenge so to speak. But why won't they commit? That's the tricky question. Maybe they don't believe in themselves. Maybe they don't manage their time well, so they're overwhelmed with life. Like I said, that's a tough one.

I have no great insights and no answers. I guess I'm just sharing my sadness at my observation that people struggle to commit and therefore really miss out on all that God has for their lives. One thing I do know is what won't work. It's senseless for me to say "Hey, commit". That works about as well as filling a cavity with Pez. So, I guess I'm clueless today. The only thing I can think to do is encourage everyone reading (especially you scruffy-ites) to slow down for 5 minutes and talk to God and ask Him about His plans for your life. Are you living in them?

God believes in you. As I'm so fond of saying "God isn't looking for you to fail, He's standing beside you saying 'you can do it'". And you can. You can do that ministry. You can get your spiritual life in order. You can get your marriage off the rocks. You can spend more time with your kids. You can devote more personal time to spirituality and prayer. You can.

The New Year

Yikes! Can you believe it took me until January 30th to blog in the new year? It's a good thing Jill did a movie picks or else who knows when I'd have remembered to come and blog. Anyway, what an amazing start to the new year. For those of you who check this blog occasionally but don't come to The Urban Church, here's a little update.

2007 was an amazing yet turbulent year for Urban. Not a bad year...just lots of challenges. It's all part of growth I suppose. And that's the good news. We are growing and in more ways than one. When churches talk about growth, sometimes it seems like a numbers game. That's often viewed as a negative. While I can't speak for every church, I can say that for Urban, numbers represent changed lives. So in our view, numbers are a good thing. At the beginning of 2008 we find ourselves finally at the average attendance level that we were at before making the move to our current location and time. That's a big deal because the move (especially to an evening service only) really altered our congregation as moves often do.

The growth came at a weird time though... in January. Usually churches see their biggest growth in the fall and around Easter. Yet we are seeing many new faces in the month of January. Weird huh? Hey, why question it? I say, let's just roll with it and try our best to get on board with what God is doing here in Eastpointe. And He's doing a lot!

Another area of growth has been with our teens. For those of you who don't know, our student group is called The Tribe. The Tribe has skyrocketed as it's reached upwards of 70 teens in the past year, most of which are now regularly attending. My wife reminded me that Bill Hybels once said that you should invest in where God is giving the increase. I totally agree which is why we are going to really be working hard this year to bring The Tribe to the forefront of our ministry to this community.

Yet another area of growth has been in the spiritual lives of our regular attenders. I know that sounds weird since regular attenders are normally considered "the growing ones", but let's face it... many regulars in many churches across the country are in the habit of going to church, but not in the habit of changing. Change has been a big theme for us in the new year. As we embrace change, we embrace vision and growth, both personally and as a church. In that vein, I've been speaking a great deal lately about upcoming change in nearly everything we do. Our goal is to stay in sync with the heart of God as we allow HIM to steer Urban.

We've seen growth also in some folks who have really stepped up to the plate and taken on leadership roles. This is especially true of our interim Kid Focus (children's church) leader. He's done an amazing job and has demonstrated a servants attitude that is bar none. His wife is also helping me a great deal in the office and with our hospitality team. To say I'm impressed with them isn't enough... I'm more than impressed and extremely grateful to the Lord for calling and equipping them to serve.

There are many more examples of growth that I could cite, but for time's sake and so that this doesn't turn into a book, I'll stop here. Suffice it to say, it's gratifying and humbling to see one of our greatest core values: 'Acceptance First, Growth Next' paying dividends. It's pretty cool. Later.